We live, simultaneously, in two different worlds. Ultimately, we live in the World of Nature, a world that we did not create and the world upon which all life depends. Most immediately, we inhabit a "human world" that we create ourselves. Because our human world is the result of our own choices and actions, we can say, quite properly, that we live, most immediately, in a “political world.” In this blog, I hope to explore the interaction of these two worlds that we call home.

About Me

Gary A. Patton

I was an elected official in Santa Cruz County, California for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995. Now, I am an environmental attorney, practicing law in Santa Cruz County. If you would like to contact me, send me an email at gapatton@mac.com.

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Monday, September 14, 2015

#257 / Option B

WSAC, the City of Santa Cruz "Water Supply Advisory Committee," has been working for more than a year on developing a proposed "supplemental" water supply solution for my local community.

The main action right now seems to revolve around an argument about whether "to B" or "not to B." In other words, the Committee has come up with a generally accepted plan (let's call it "Plan A"), which does not involve desalination. Instead, the idea is that available surface water can be captured in high-rainfall periods (even during a drought), and then can be stored for later use in unfilled groundwater aquifers under Scotts Valley and the area served by the Soquel Creek Water District.

As I say, the members of WSAC seem to agree that this is a good plan. But what if it doesn't work? Some argue that the City needs a "Plan B," too. For instance, how about desalination?

The problem with a "Plan B," in this context, is that the temptation will be to try to accomplish both plans simultaneously (just to be sure). The "No Plan B" argument is that we are better off to put all our eggs in that "Plan A" basket, since that plan does seem to have the best potential to solve our problem. Then, of course, we need to "Watch That Basket!"

In whatever context, I am generally in favor of picking what I think is the best plan, and then making sure to "execute" that plan. Let's focus our resources, I say, and not get distracted by trying to do a "Plan A" and a "Plan B" simultaneously.

The primary campaign season is the time to pick the right "Plan A" for presidential candidates. The year-plus work by WSAC has been the time to pick the best plan for long-term water security for our local community.

I will say (since sometimes the best plan doesn't work out) that Sheryl Sandberg (pictured above) had the very best quote in the Chronicle article, at least in my opinion. She made a good point about what to do when an accepted "Plan A" fails: